Location based reward distribution system

ABSTRACT

Embodiments of the invention broadly contemplate a location based rewards distribution system. Various embodiments of the invention provide rewards, for example video game unlock codes, based on a user physically visiting a specific physical location.

BACKGROUND

Rewards systems are popular among merchants and consumers. For example,players of video games utilize “cheats” or unlock codes to gain accessto a wide variety of extra/bonus features/content within games. Thesecheats or unlocks are usually given by a code that is manually typed inor otherwise require some manual entry methodology. Once a player isgiven such a cheat or unlock code/solution, it can easily be spread toother players via a variety of communication types, including voice,posting to Internet web sites, and the like.

BRIEF SUMMARY

Aspects of the invention provide systems, methods, apparatuses andprogram products providing one or more rewards to consumers in acontrolled way, such that consumers are prevented from sharing orpublicly disseminating the rewards. Various embodiments of the inventiontie distribution of rewards to visits to one or more physical locations.

Various embodiments of the invention use rewards to encourage consumersto interface between two worlds or venues in which entertainmentexperiences take place. According to various embodiments of theinvention, consumers are provided with a connection between these twoworlds, namely the physical world, such as a theme park, cruise ship andthe like, and the virtual or gaming world, where consumers take part inone or more video game experiences. Embodiments of the invention tiethese worlds together by providing one or more physical locations inwhich the gaming world presents itself to the consumers. The consumers,utilizing embodiments of the invention, are then enabled to interfacewith the gaming world at these physical locations with a physical token,which when presented at the physical location, earns the consumer one ormore rewards. According to embodiments of the invention, a variety ofdifferent awards are provided.

In summary, one aspect of the invention provides a system comprising:one or more processors; and one or more modules executable by the one ormore processors, the one or more modules comprising: a reader moduleconnected with one or more gaming system components, the reader modulebeing configured to ascertain a physical token has been physicallypresented at a predetermined physical location; and a provider moduleconfigured to provide a reward in response to the physical token beingphysically presented.

Another aspect of the invention provides a method comprising: utilizinga reader connected to one or more gaming system components to ascertaina physical token has been physically presented at a predeterminedphysical location; and utilizing a provider module to provide a rewardin response to the physical token being physically presented.

A further aspect of the invention provides a computer program productcomprising: a computer readable storage medium having computer readableprogram code embodied therewith, the computer readable program codecomprising: computer readable program code configured to utilize areader connected to one or more gaming system components to ascertain aphysical token has been physically presented at a predetermined physicallocation; and computer readable program code configured to utilize aprovider module to provide a reward in response to the physical tokenbeing physically presented.

For a better understanding of exemplary embodiments of the invention,together with other and further features and advantages thereof,reference is made to the following description, taken in conjunctionwith the accompanying drawings, and the scope of the claimed embodimentsof the invention will be pointed out in the appended claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a computer system according to an embodiment of theinvention.

FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary system and method for location drivenreward distribution.

FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplary method for location driven rewarddistribution.

FIG. 4 illustrates an exemplary system and method for location drivereward distribution.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

It will be readily understood that the components of the embodiments ofthe invention, as generally described and illustrated in the figuresherein, may be arranged and designed in a wide variety of differentconfigurations in addition to the described presently preferredembodiments. Thus, the following more detailed description of theembodiments of the invention, as represented in the figures, is notintended to limit the scope of the embodiments of the invention, asclaimed, but is merely representative of selected exemplary embodimentsof the invention.

Reference throughout this specification to “one embodiment” or “anembodiment” (or the like) means that a particular feature, structure, orcharacteristic described in connection with the embodiment is includedin at least one embodiment of the invention. Thus, appearances of thephrases “in one embodiment” or “in an embodiment” or the like in variousplaces throughout this specification are not necessarily all referringto the same embodiment.

Furthermore, the described features, structures, or characteristics maybe combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments. In thefollowing description, numerous specific details are provided to give athorough understanding of embodiments of the invention. One skilled inthe relevant art will recognize, however, that the various embodimentsof the invention can be practiced without one or more of the specificdetails, or with other methods, components, materials, etc. In otherinstances, well-known structures, materials, or operations are not shownor described in detail to avoid obscuring aspects of the invention.

The illustrated embodiments of the invention will be best understood byreference to the figures. The following description is intended only byway of example and simply illustrates certain selected presentlypreferred embodiments of the invention as claimed herein.

The flowchart and block diagrams in the figures illustrate thearchitecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementationsof systems, methods and computer program products according to variousembodiments of the invention. In this regard, each block in theflowchart or block diagrams may represent a module, segment, or portionof code, which comprises one or more executable instructions forimplementing the specified logical function(s). It should also be notedthat, in some alternative implementations, the functions noted in theblock may occur out of the order noted in the figures. For example, twoblocks shown in succession may, in fact, be executed substantiallyconcurrently, or the blocks may sometimes be executed in the reverseorder, depending upon the functionality involved. It will also be notedthat each block of the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, andcombinations of blocks in the block diagrams and/or flowchartillustration, can be implemented by special purpose hardware-basedsystems that perform the specified functions or acts, or combinations ofspecial purpose hardware and computer instructions.

It should be noted that while various non-limiting and exemplaryembodiments of the invention are described herein in connection withsystems, methods and apparatuses distributing game reward(s) to videogame player(s), it will be readily understood that various otherembodiments can be utilized for different implementations and theseembodiments of the invention are considered to fall within the scope andspirit of the disclosure. For example, the reward(s) may includecustomer points redeemable for merchandise, discounts and the like inaddition to the described, exemplary game reward(s). Moreover, thegaming rewards may come in a wide variety, for example rewards whichunlock additional content for one player, rewards that unlock additionalcontent for more than one player, rewards that unlock additional contentin a gaming-system wide manner (for example for a Multi-player onlinegame), rewards that unlock additional content for a predetermined amountof time, rewards that when combined unlock different combinations ofadditional content, and the like.

The description now turns to a non-limiting and exemplary embodiment ofthe invention dealing with gaming rewards which is consistent with theembodiments of the invention, as claimed. The inventors have recognizedthat it is popular for game developers to provide game cheats or unlockcodes (which for the purposes of this non-limiting disclosure arereferred to as game “benefit(s)” or “reward(s)”) to players in order toenhance the gaming experience, as for example by unlocking additionalgame features not provided in a default game setting. One difficultywith such game rewards is that when a player learns of a reward unlockcode, it is common for that player to share the reward unlock code in anunrestricted way with other players. While this has some positiveaspects, for example making the reward available to many players andenhancing their gaming experience, the inventors have recognized that italso has certain drawbacks, including making the game rewards lessvaluable. For example, if a game reward is freely sharable betweenplayers, game developers (and the like) can not utilize the game rewardto drive certain behavior, such as when the reward is to be utilized aspart of a promotion or customer rewards program benefiting players thathave visited a specific, predetermined location and/or participated in aparticular event at the predetermined location and/or time.

Accordingly, embodiments of the invention provide a system in which aplayer is not able to freely share the game reward(s) with otherplayers. Embodiments of the invention require players wishing to obtaina game reward to perform some predetermined action, for examplephysically going to a specific location with a physical token/device.The device is read/associated with the physical location visit, and acode or cheat (that is, a game reward of some sort) is transmitted tothe physical token (device) or to a back end system (networked server orthe like) for storage and later retrieval by the player.

The choice of device/reader combinations is selectable and can beconfigured to accommodate a desired scenario. For example, the device(token) can be a toy configured with an RFID device embedded thereinsuch that upon coming in close proximity to the reader, for example anRFID reader, the reader reads the device (token) to obtain a uniquedevice identification and the user is credited with visiting thephysical location. Alternatively, it will be understood by those havingskill in the art that the token could be a cellular phone or similarmobile device (with appropriately configured hardware/software) or thecombination could be as simple as a bar code/bar code readercombination.

Referring now to FIG. 1, there is depicted a block diagram of anillustrative embodiment of a computer system 100. The illustrativeembodiment depicted in FIG. 1 may be an electronic device such as adesktop or workstation computer, a laptop computer, a smart phone, amobile computing device and the like. As is apparent from thedescription, however, the embodiments of the invention may beimplemented in any appropriately configured electronic device orcomputing system, as described herein.

As shown in FIG. 1, computer system 100 includes at least one systemprocessor 42, which is coupled to a Read-Only Memory (ROM) 40 and asystem memory 46 by a processor bus 44. System processor 42, which maycomprise one of the AMD line of processors produced by AMD Corporationor a processor produced by INTEL Corporation, is a general-purposeprocessor that executes boot code 41 stored within ROM 40 at power-onand thereafter processes data under the control of an operating systemand application software stored in system memory 46. System processor 42is coupled via processor bus 44 and host bridge 48 to PeripheralComponent Interconnect (PCI) local bus 50.

PCI local bus 50 supports the attachment of a number of devices,including adapters and bridges. Among these devices is network adapter66, which interfaces computer system 100 to LAN, and graphics adapter68, which interfaces computer system 100 to display 69. Communication onPCI local bus 50 is governed by local PCI controller 52, which is inturn coupled to non-volatile random access memory (NVRAM) 56 via memorybus 54. Local PCI controller 52 can be coupled to additional buses anddevices via a second host bridge 60.

Computer system 100 further includes Industry Standard Architecture(ISA) bus 62, which is coupled to PCI local bus 50 by ISA bridge 64.Coupled to ISA bus 62 is an input/output (I/O) controller 70, whichcontrols communication between computer system 100 and attachedperipheral devices such as a as a keyboard, mouse, serial and parallelports, etc. A disk controller 72 connects a disk drive with PCI localbus 50. The USB Bus and USB Controller (not shown) are part of the LocalPCI controller (52).

Referring now to FIG. 2, a non-limiting and exemplary method and systemfor location driven reward distribution according to an embodiment ofthe invention are illustrated. According to an embodiment of theinvention, a user purchases a physical token (token and device are usedinterchangeably herein) associated in some way with a game. The devicemay be associated with the game, for example, by selling the game and/orthe device and associating them prior to the purchase. In the case wherethe game and the device have been pre-associated, many such associationscan be utilized. For example, a specific set of toys (having devicestherein) could be pre-associated with one or more games such that, asdescribed further herein, upon the device being appropriately utilizedby the consumer, one or more rewards are distributed for the one or morepre-associated games. Naturally, the pre-association is manageable andcan be modified such that different devices and games and combinationsthereof can be associated as desired.

The device(s) also are associated (registered) with one or more useraccounts and/or gaming systems. These associations can take place priorto physical presentation of the device to the system or thereafter (asdescribed herein). Some non-limiting examples are as follows. Thedevices could be pre-registered with a user account. In such a scenario,the user registers the device with their user account (in a back endsystem associated with the game) before attempting to obtain a reward,that is, physically presenting the device to the system. Thisassociation can be accomplished simply by having the user update theironline account manually or can take the form of an automatic update,such as association of the device purchase with user-identifyinginformation (for example, a loyalty card presented at the time ofpurchase). Naturally, a user account and/or a physical token can beassociated with multiple games. If registration occurs after thephysical presentation of the device to the system, the user can obtainthe reward by having their account information matched with a deviceidentification having the reward associated therewith. In any event, thedevice/user association is registered at 201. In this example, the usermay register the device at 201 in their online game account prior tophysically presenting it, thus associating the device and game with theuser via the online account.

Once the user has obtained the device (registered or not), the user isprepared to obtain unlock reward(s) associated with the game. Accordingto embodiments of the invention, to unlock the reward(s), the user isrequired to physically visit a predetermined location (or locations) at202. According to embodiments of the invention, the physical location isa physical manifestation of the virtual or gaming world, as discussedherein. That is, the physical location presents the user with aninterface to the gaming world via the physical location. The physicallocation can be pre-selected or predetermined, as desired. For example,the physical location can be one or more of a store, a park, a cruiseship, a movie theater and the like. Virtually any physical location thatwould be desirable to have game players visit may be selected as thephysical location. Preferably, the physical location has some relationto the game to which the one or more rewards pertain.

The user brings the device (token) to the physical location in order tounlock the reward(s) at 202. At the physical location, a reader isconfigured to read the player's device at 203. According to embodimentsof the invention, the reader thus presents the user with a physicalinterface with the gaming world, as the reader is in fact part of agaming system.

According to an embodiment of the invention, in response to reading thetoken at 203, the reader transmits (for example via a provider module)the read data (identification information) to a back end system (forexample, a server that is network connected to the reader) at 204. Thus,information recording the user's visit to the physical location isautomatically logged with the back end system at 204. The user can thencontinue on with the visit to the physical location and engage inwhatever other activities he or she desires.

Importantly, the back end system is part of a gaming world. For example,the back end system may include a server hosting one or moremulti-player online games and/or user accounts. The reward(s) thustransmitted may therefore collect at the server, awaiting redemption bythe user that has physically presented the token when next he or sheplays the game.

Thus, sometime thereafter the user may wish to utilize the reward foruse in the gaming experience. Accordingly, the server is configured totransmit the reward to a predetermined location, for example the gamingconsole, at 205. This transmission may be automatic and virtuallycontemporaneous with the reader reading the token or can be in responseto another action, for example the user logging into his or her onlineaccount. As will be understood by those having ordinary skill in theart, different games may utilize different reward types and/or differentredemption schemes.

In any event, the specific user having the token is credited with areward usable in the game to unlock an enhanced gaming experience viavisiting the physical location. Preferably the reward(s) areautomatically applied to the game such that manual entry of codes is notrequired. Moreover, it is preferred that the reward(s) (for example,unlock codes) are not visible/ascertainable to the user such that theycan not be freely exchanged outside the system.

Referring to FIG. 3, a non-limiting and exemplary method for locationdriven reward distribution is illustrated. As shown, the readerdetermines if a token is read at 301, which as discussed hereincomprises physically associating the token with the physical location insome way. In response to determining that the token is read at 301, itis determined if the token is associated with a user account at 302.This determination can be made in a variety of locations, for example,this determination can be made at a back end server of the system havingstored therein or accessible thereto user account information.

In response to determining at 302 that the token is associated with auser account (for example pre-registered with an online gaming account),the token visit is linked to the account at 303. The token visitinformation thus linked to the account unlocks one or more game rewardsthat can be automatically applied to the account and/or transmitted to alinked gaming console or can be stored for later retrieval by the userhaving access to the online gaming account.

If it is determined that the token has not been registered with a useraccount, the system preferably stores the physical location visitinformation at 304 for later reward retrieval. This would correspond,for example, to use case where a user that has just purchased thegame/token, visited a physical location having a reader, but has not yethad a chance to establish/update an account. Thus, in response to theuser establishing/updating an account having the token associatedtherewith, the visit can be properly credited and the one or morerewards distributed.

Referring to FIG. 4, another non-limiting and exemplary location drivenreward distribution method and system are illustrated. Here, the useragain may establish an online gaming account at 401 (which as discussedherein could occur before or after physical location visit informationcapturing). The user in this scenario has a device, such as a USBstorage device or the like (which may or may not be purchased along witha game or a set of games), capable of storing game reward(s). At 402 theuser makes a visit to the physical location having a reward dispenser.

At 403 the user can download the reward from the on-site dispenser tothe storage device. Again, those with ordinary skill in the art willrecognize that so long as the visit to the physical location isaccomplished, the distribution of the reward(s) can be modified (e.g.wireless download to another type of device, such as a cell phone orsmart phone). In response to the user downloading the reward at 403, thereward dispenser can optionally log the visit information with the backend system at 404. While logging the visit is not necessary to allowreward distribution in this case, it may be useful for a variety ofother purposes (for example tracking visits by game users to physicallocation(s)). At 405 the user can upload the reward to the game console,for example by plugging in the USB storage device or utilizing wirelesstransmission.

According to various embodiments of the invention, one or more rewardscan be distributed in a variety of different ways to a variety ofdifferent users for a variety of different purposes. For example, usersmay be rewarded based on the “quality” of their visits. As anon-limiting example, a user visiting a movie theater may be given alevel 1 reward; whereas a user visiting a cruise ship may be given alevel 5 reward, where the level 5 reward unlocks significantly more gamefeatures/benefits than the level 1 reward. Moreover, certain patterns orcombinations, either temporal or geographical, of user physical locationvisits can be rewarded in different ways. As such, it will beappreciated by those having ordinary skill in the art that embodimentsof the invention provide for driving physical location visits based onthe gaming rewards offered.

It should be understood that various embodiments of the inventionprovide reward(s) to users based on visit(s) to physical location(s).While the non-limiting and exemplary embodiments discussed herein havefocused on specific types of rewards and specific types of physicallocation visits, where users make use of specific devices, apparatusesand systems to obtain the rewards, and specific devices, apparatuses andsystems are used to distribute the rewards, the discussion presentedherein is not intended to so limit the scope of the claimed embodimentsof the invention.

As will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, aspects of theinvention may be embodied as a system, method or computer programproduct. Accordingly, aspects of the invention may take the form of anentirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment (includingfirmware, resident software, micro-code, etc.) or an embodimentcombining software and hardware aspects that may all generally bereferred to herein as a “circuit,” “module” or “system.” Furthermore,aspects of the invention may take the form of a computer program productembodied in one or more computer readable medium(s) having computerreadable program code embodied thereon.

Any combination of one or more computer readable medium(s) may beutilized. The computer readable medium may be a computer readable signalmedium or a computer readable storage medium. A computer readablestorage medium may be, for example, but not limited to, an electronic,magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system,apparatus, or device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. Morespecific examples (a non-exhaustive list) of the computer readablestorage medium would include the following: an electrical connectionhaving one or more wires, a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, arandom access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasableprogrammable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory), an optical fiber,a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), an optical storagedevice, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination of theforegoing. In the context of this document, a computer readable storagemedium may be any tangible medium that can contain, or store a programfor use by or in connection with an instruction execution system,apparatus, or device.

A computer readable signal medium may include a propagated data signalwith computer readable program code embodied therein, for example, inbaseband or as part of a carrier wave. Such a propagated signal may takeany of a variety of forms, including, but not limited to,electro-magnetic, optical, or any suitable combination thereof. Acomputer readable signal medium may be any computer readable medium thatis not a computer readable storage medium and that can communicate,propagate, or transport a program for use by or in connection with aninstruction execution system, apparatus, or device.

Program code embodied on a computer readable medium may be transmittedusing any appropriate medium, including but not limited to wireless,wireline, optical fiber cable, RF, etc., or any suitable combination ofthe foregoing.

Computer program code for carrying out operations for aspects of theinvention may be written in any combination of one or more programminglanguages, including an object oriented programming language such asJava, Smalltalk, C++ or the like and conventional procedural programminglanguages, such as the “C” programming language or similar programminglanguages. The program code may execute entirely on the user's computer(device), partly on the user's computer, as a stand-alone softwarepackage, partly on the user's computer and partly on a remote computeror entirely on the remote computer or server. In the latter scenario,the remote computer may be connected to the user's computer through anytype of network, including a local area network (LAN) or a wide areanetwork (WAN), or the connection may be made to an external computer(for example, through the Internet using an Internet Service Provider).

Aspects of the invention are described herein with reference toflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus(systems) and computer program products according to embodiments of theinvention. It will be understood that each block of the flowchartillustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in theflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented bycomputer program instructions. These computer program instructions maybe provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, specialpurpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus toproduce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via theprocessor of the computer or other programmable data processingapparatus, create means for implementing the functions/acts specified inthe flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.

These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computerreadable medium that can direct a computer, other programmable dataprocessing apparatus, or other devices to function in a particularmanner, such that the instructions stored in the computer readablemedium produce an article of manufacture including instructions whichimplement the function/act specified in the flowchart and/or blockdiagram block or blocks.

The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer,other programmable data processing apparatus, or other devices to causea series of operational steps to be performed on the computer, otherprogrammable apparatus or other devices to produce a computerimplemented process such that the instructions which execute on thecomputer or other programmable apparatus provide processes forimplementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or blockdiagram block or blocks.

This disclosure has been presented for purposes of illustration anddescription but is not intended to be exhaustive or limiting. Manymodifications and variations will be apparent to those of ordinary skillin the art. The embodiments were chosen and described in order toexplain principles and practical application, and to enable others ofordinary skill in the art to understand the disclosure for variousembodiments with various modifications as are suited to the particularuse contemplated.

Although illustrative embodiments of the invention have been describedherein with reference to the accompanying drawings, it is to beunderstood that the embodiments of the invention are not limited tothose precise embodiments, and that various other changes andmodifications may be affected therein by one skilled in the art withoutdeparting from the scope or spirit of the disclosure.

What is claimed is:
 1. A system configured to provide location-basedrewards for users of a virtual world, the system comprising: one or morephysical processors configured by machine-readable instructions to:store user accounts for the users of the virtual world in a virtualworld server, the users utilizing physical objects to obtain rewards inthe virtual world, individual physical objects having individual uniqueidentifications, the virtual world being accessible to individual usersvia individual user devices, the individual user accounts includingidentifications of individual physical objects associated with theindividual user accounts, individual user devices associated with theindividual user accounts, and one or more rewards credited to theindividual user accounts; and responsive to obtaining indications of theindividual physical objects being physically present at one or morephysical locations, transmit individual rewards to the individual userdevices for storage on the individual user devices and credit theindividual user accounts with the individual rewards, the individualrewards being accessible to the individual users from the individualuser devices storing the individual rewards and the individual useraccounts to which the individual rewards are credited.
 2. The system ofclaim 1, wherein the one or more physical processors are furtherconfigured by machine-readable instructions such that: a requirement totransmit individual rewards to the individual user devices for storageon the individual user devices and to credit the individual useraccounts stored in the virtual world server with the individual rewardsincludes making a positive determination that the individual physicalobjects are associated with the individual user accounts.
 3. The systemof claim 2, wherein the one or more physical processors are furtherconfigured by machine-readable instructions to: responsive todetermining that individual physical objects are associated with theindividual user accounts, transmit individual rewards not previouslytransmitted to individual user devices and credit individual useraccounts not previously credited with the individual rewards.
 4. Thesystem of claim 1, further comprising the individual RFID readerslocated at individual ones of the one or more physical locations.
 5. Thesystem of claim 1, wherein transmitting the individual rewards forstorage on the individual user devices comprises transmitting via anetwork connection.
 6. The system of claim 5, further comprising: one ormore reward dispensers storing rewards, individual reward dispensersbeing located at individual ones of the one or more physical locations;and wherein transmitting the individual rewards for storage on theindividual user devices comprises transmitting the individual rewardsfrom the individual reward dispensers to the individual user devices viathe network connection.
 7. The system of claim 1, wherein a first rewardis available for immediate retrieval via a first user device responsiveto a transmission of the first reward for storage on the first userdevice.
 8. The system of claim 1, wherein a first user account includesa first unique identification of a first physical object responsive toregistration of the first physical object with the first user account.9. The system of claim 1, wherein the individual rewards are not visibleand/or ascertainable to the individual users such that the individualrewards cannot be freely exchanged between users.
 10. The system ofclaim 1, wherein the individual rewards are unlock codes.
 11. A methodto provide location-based rewards for users of a virtual world, themethod being implemented in a system comprising one or more physicalprocessors configured by machine-readable instructions, the methodcomprising: storing user accounts for the users of the virtual world ina virtual world server, the users utilizing physical objects to obtainrewards in the virtual world, individual physical objects havingindividual unique identifications, the virtual world being accessible toindividual users via individual user devices, the individual useraccounts including identifications of individual physical objectsassociated with the individual user accounts, individual user devicesassociated with the individual user accounts, and one or more rewardscredited to the individual user accounts; and responsive to obtainingindications of the individual physical objects being physically presentat one or more physical locations, transmitting individual rewards tothe individual user devices for storage on the individual user devicesand crediting the individual user accounts stored in the virtual worldserver with the individual rewards, the individual rewards beingaccessible to the individual users from the individual user devicesstoring the individual rewards and the individual user accounts to whichthe individual rewards are credited.
 12. The method of claim 11, whereina requirement to transmit individual rewards to the individual userdevices for storage on the individual user devices and to credit theindividual user accounts stored in the virtual world server with theindividual rewards includes making a positive determination that theindividual physical objects are associated with the individual useraccounts.
 13. The method of claim 12, further comprising: responsive todetermining that individual physical objects are associated with theindividual user accounts, transmitting individual rewards not previouslytransmitted to individual user devices and crediting individual useraccounts not previously credited with the individual rewards.
 14. Themethod of claim 11, wherein the system implementing the method furtherincludes the individual RFID readers located at individual ones of theone or more physical locations.
 15. The method of claim 11, whereintransmitting the individual rewards for storage on the individual userdevices comprises transmitting via a network connection.
 16. The methodof claim 15, further comprising: transmitting the individual rewardsfrom individual reward dispensers to the individual user devices via thenetwork connection, the individual reward dispensers being located atindividual ones of the one or more physical locations.
 17. The method ofclaim 11, wherein a first reward is available for immediate retrievalvia a first user device responsive to a transmission of the first rewardfor storage on the first user device.
 18. The method of claim 11,wherein a first user account includes a first unique identification of afirst physical object responsive to registration of the first physicalobject with the first user account.
 19. The method of claim 11, whereinthe individual rewards are not visible and/or ascertainable to theindividual users such that the individual rewards cannot be freelyexchanged between users.
 20. The method of claim 11, wherein theindividual rewards are unlock codes.